Don't Leave
by Nyan Nyan Soup
Summary: O'Brien drops by to pay Judai a visit. Judai would prefer to be alone, but at the same time he doesn't want O'Brien to leave.


_'Knock, knock'._

Judai groaned and rolled over in bed.

_'Knock, knock'._

"Go away!" Judai shouted before covering his head with his blanket.

The door gently opened and Judai heard a couple footsteps as someone entered his room.

"Oh, so you are awake."

"No." Judai grumbled, recognizing by the voice that it was O'Brien in his room.

The lights switched on and Judai let out another, louder groan. His grip on his blanket tightened and he shoved more of it over his head.

"Geez, it seems like you haven't moved at all since last I visited." O'Brien noted.

"I haven't." Judai muttered under his blanket.

O'Brien simply sighed.

"Hey…" Judai started.

"Yeah?" O'Brien replied.

"Please turn it off." Judai requested in a much softer voice than before.

O'Brien stared at the mass on the bed that was Judai for a moment before sighing again. He flipped off the light switch and the room fell completely dark. He could just barely make out Judai removing the blanket from over his head.

"So… doing any better?" O'Brien asked.

"What do ya mean?" Judai responded, playing dumb.

"You know what I mean." O'Brien said.

He walked up to the bed and got on the floor, leaning against the bed frame for support. While O'Brien waited for a response he looked around the room at what he was able to see before his eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness.

"Judai." O'Brien called out.

"What?" Judai replied without missing a beat.

"It's concerning when you don't answer." O'Brien stated.

Judai hesitated before speaking. "You don't… need to be concerned about me…"

O'Brien looked over his shoulder at Judai. He could tell the brunet was facing the wall.

"Well of course I'm going to be concerned about you, Judai. You're my friend." O'Brien said.

Judai put his blanket back over his head and pulled his knees close to his chest. O'Brien simply stared at him for a bit. It was tough not getting a response from Judai when he knew the brunet heard him, but he couldn't exactly blame Judai for not wanting to talk. After all, O'Brien knew all too well what it felt like to put all the blame on himself.

"Do you need anything?" O'Brien simply asked.

"No." Judai muttered.

"You sure? You good on food?" O'Brien inquired further.

"I'm fine. I've got stuff." Judai assured him.

O'Brien wasn't sure if he believed that, but he didn't want to push Judai.

"So there's absolutely nothing you need?" O'Brien asked one more time.

Judai was quiet and O'Brien assumed he was being ignored again.

"I wanna sleep." Judai grumbled.

"Ugh, you've been doing that for at least three weeks straight now. You can't just hibernate and expect that to solve everything." O'Brien advised.

"I don't. I just wanna sleep." Judai clarified.

O'Brien stared down at the floor, unsure where to go from there. He wasn't exactly the best at dealing with other people after all.

"I wanna sleep forever." Judai whispered.

O'Brien immediately looked back up at Judai. He couldn't even actually see the brunet and yet he still looked so pitiful. That wasn't the same cheerful, overly energetic Judai that O'Brien knew before. It was whatever was left of him.

Judai heard the sound of O'Brien getting up. He felt his heart rate suddenly spike and he quickly rolled over in bed.

"Don't leave!" Judai begged.

"Uh… I'm not, I was just standing up. I won't leave if you don't want me to." O'Brien assured him.

Judai felt his vision start to blur thanks to the tears forming in his eyes. He tried to calm himself down since O'Brien said he wouldn't leave, but he was still too worked up from thinking O'Brien would. Judai slid a hand out from under his blanket and reached out for O'Brien's hand. When he felt something touch his hand, O'Brien looked down to see Judai's hand grab ahold of his own.

"Don't leave…" Judai quietly repeated.

"I told you, I won't. I promise." O'Brien swore.

Judai tugged on his hand a bit and O'Brien got the message. He crawled into Judai's bed best he could while the brunet still had a grip on his hand. It felt kind of awkward for him since he wasn't used to being in a bed with another person, but he put that aside since caring for Judai took priority. Judai immediately scooted as close to O'Brien as possible and gripped at the other boy's vest. O'Brien was glad Judai couldn't see the blush that formed on his face out of embarrassment.

"Don't leave." Judai repeated once more, this time in a shaky voice.

O'Brien put one arm on Judai's back and the other in the brunet's hair in response.

"I'm not going anywhere, Judai. I'm right here." O'Brien told him.

Judai finally felt a bit relaxed. There was just something nice about being in O'Brien's arms. It was safe and comforting and Judai didn't want that feeling to end. O'Brien began stroking Judai's hair and it caused a fuzzy feeling to form inside the brunet. It was so nice he couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a small sigh. He had been locked away in his room for so long that he forgot what contact with other people felt like. He realized he missed it. A lot. And he missed O'Brien too.

"I missed you." Judai blurted out.

O'Brien's eyes widened a bit. "You did?"

Judai slowly nodded.

"I missed everyone." He added.

O'Brien was shocked at the feeling of disappointment that suddenly overcame him. Of course Judai missed him, he missed everyone. O'Brien wasn't special, he was just part of the group.

"I'm glad you're okay." Judai mumbled.

O'Brien froze. Even if he wasn't sure if Judai really missed him on an individual level, he was still relieved to know Judai was glad he was okay. He wished he could say the same thing back, but Judai clearly wasn't okay. The boy had been through so much and it obviously took a huge toll on him. But at least he was back. That's right, Judai was back. That's what mattered most. Judai may not have been okay, but at least he had the opportunity to get better.

"And I'm glad you're back." O'Brien told him.

O'Brien felt Judai's grip on his vest tighten and the brunet tried to scoot even closer to O'Brien, leaving absolutely no room between them.

"Please stay with me." Judai requested, his voice sounding muffled.

"I keep telling you I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay as long as you want me to, alright?" O'Brien responded.

Judai knew that was what O'Brien was saying, but his head just wouldn't let him believe it. He continued to fear that O'Brien would leave and he would be left all alone again. Granted, he preferred being alone nowadays, but whenever O'Brien dropped by to check on him he never wanted the other to leave. There really was just something calming about being with O'Brien. It was so calming it made Judai want to sleep even more.

"If… If I…" Judai struggled to speak before letting out a sigh. "If I fall asleep, will you still be here?"

O'Brien looked down at Judai. "Yeah, of course. I'll always be here."

"Thank you." Judai muttered.

O'Brien didn't really know how to respond. It simply fell silent between them and that very silence felt so loud to O'Brien. He had no problem staying with Judai for however long the other wanted him to, but that didn't mean it wasn't still awkward.

O'Brien felt Judai release his grip on his vest and he looked down at the brunet again. Judai was asleep already. Despite what Judai had been through, he still looked like his old self when he slept. O'Brien gently brushed some of Judai's hair out of his face and the peaceful expression on Judai's face made O'Brien smile. Even if he was asleep for it, it was still nice to see Judai look so relaxed finally.

"I'll always be here, Judai. No matter what. I promise." O'Brien whispered.


End file.
